. >> i think it's almost the inverse of what we saw in 2010 after big democratic losses in that election. the caucus was divided in the house and senate on whether to extend the bush tax cuts for everyone. republicans were unified, they insisted it be extended for everyone. president obama ultimately made a deal to extend them as you know, for two years for all taxpayers, which is how we are where we are now. democrats are virtually in lock step showing cracks, saying maybe we need to extend for those in the middle. it's a different circumstance. i think the leverage on the tax side, at least is clearly with the democrats, stalemates mean the tax cuts expired and democrats are more willing to live with that than republicans are. >> when you read between the lines here, senate am dids are more willing to go over the fiscal cliff. do you think that's real or are they just posturing for the sake of the negotiation? >> i think that's real, the white house has been signalling since the summer of this year, that they are -- if the republicans don't budge on the tax side, on the revenue side, t